What a Night! The Stars Come Out for the 2019 U.S. Rugby Hall of Fame Induction Dinner

Infinity Park’s Event Center in Glendale, Colorado was the site for this past weekend’s 2019 U.S. Rugby Hall of Fame Induction Dinner, and what a venue it was. With state-of-the-art amenities and space for the record-setting 360 Hall of Fame Dinner attendees, it was the perfect setting for this year’s function.

The doors officially opened at 5:30 but anxious arrivals showed up closer to 5:00. Once the party started, guests enjoyed the Canterbury sponsored reception, which included beer provided by Anheuser-Busch, and wine provided by Southern Glazers Wine & Spirits, and the Mark and Naomi Price Wine Company.

This year’s Hall of Fame inductees and Prusmack recipients greeted what appeared to be an endless stream of well-wishers while others in the room took the opportunity to catch up with old friends and meet new ones. Guests also got to view a slideshow of all 63 past Hall of Fame inductees.

USA Rugby’s Commercial Director, Mark Griffin, introduced Canterbury’s Global Director of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship, Sean Kavanagh, who talked about the new kit the U.S. Men’s Team will be wearing at the Pacific Nations Cup and Rugby World Cup in Japan. USA Eagles Joe Taufete’e, Tony Lamborn and James Hilterbrand did their best runway walks modeling some of the new Canterbury kit. And to top off the reception, U.S. Men’s Team Head Coach, Gary Gold, talked about the five week camp the Eagles have enjoyed prior to their Canada match and with a look ahead to the World Cup.

U.S. Rugby Foundation President, Brian Vizard, got the awards show rolling shortly after 8:00 p.m. He recognized some of the dignitaries in the crowd, starting off with Jeff Leinen, Senior Manager of Sponsorship at The Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company, the Presenting Sponsor of this year’s Hall of Fame Induction Dinner.

Also recognized were the Directors and Governors of the U.S. Rugby Foundation, the leadership of USA Rugby, the folks from radio Tonga, and Mayor Mike Dunafon and his staff from the City of Glendale. Many of the biggest names in the history of USA Rugby were in attendance and Vizard called by name the over 50 past and present Eagles, and Hall of Famers enjoying the evening.

After a moment’s silence to remember all those in the U.S. rugby community who passed away this past year, Brad Andrews, Chairman of the U.S. Rugby Foundation, welcomed this year’s crowd. He also made mention of the fact that two of the men who’ve had perhaps the biggest impacts on the sport in the U.S., Dick Smith and Bob Watkins, were recently named Governor Emeritus and Chairman Emeritus, of the U.S. Rugby Foundation.

Following Andrews to the podium was USA Rugby Chair, Barbara O’Brien, who also welcomed the crowd on behalf of the Union. Next up was U.S. Rugby Foundation Campaign Chairman, Jay Waldron, who talked about the multi-year, multi-million dollar campaign of the Foundation. To provide support were past U.S. Rugby Foundation High Performance and Graham Downes Scholarship recipients, Kevin Swiryn and Ben Pinkelman, who described the opportunities of traveling to rugby academies in New Zealand and South Africa through the Foundation grants and how those opportunities benefited their rugby careers.